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[Ray]

I have two matted and framed, limited edition Vietnamese orchid (Paph. delenatii and Cym. lowianum) prints that I will "lottery off" to raise funds for a local wildlife rescue organization. (Please disregard the gray background and irregular orientation - these were a bear to photograph with an iPhone.)



My question is this: shall I offer them individually or as a set, as they were intended?

The complementary colors of the set look good on a wall (they had been in my office for more than a decade, and got lots of complements), but folks favoring one or the other type of plant might be more amenable to just bidding on a single one.

[Mountaineer370]

JMO. Keep them together, as intended. My home is filled with wildlife art prints. In one case, there is a set of four. In another case, there is one that was supposed to be a set of two, but for reasons I won't go into here, we only got one. Every time I look at it, I feel like something is missing.

OTOH, you are raising funds for wildlife rescue, and I'm not sure how many potential bidders would also be orchid aficionados, so it may not be important to them. As the seller, it would bug me to split them up, but I guess you just have to go with your gut.

[WaterWitchin]

I'd auction high bid for choice, winning bidder can buy second at same price. If they don't want second one, it goes to second highest bidder.

[Ray]

Not planning on an auction.

My existing store software can do lotteries, but not auctions.

[Roberta]

Can't advise on sale strategy, but they are a trip down memory lane for me. Artist is Dang Bui, a southern California resident who displayed the original paintings at several shows I ran, more than 25 years ago. I loved his work then, and still do. We used the Paph image on the t shirt that we gave to volunteers, I still have one in good condition that I treasure. Just a digression...

[Waterdog111]

I think they would best be left a set, but owner has choise of that Ray!

[Dimples]

From the perspective of fundraising, you’d likely raise more money by having two prizes vs one. If people want both, they can buy more tickets.

[Pegleg]

How much latitude do you have in how the lottery is set up? Can it be set up so that people can pay a somewhat higher price per chance if they only want both as a winner?

[Ray]

Fundraising is the goal…

I have debated the “one or both” thing and not come up with an acceptable methodology. If a person wanting both is the one drawn, great. However, if a person wanting one gets drawn, and then a person wanting both is the second one drawn, I would have to lie to one of the other, and I will not do that.

[WaterWitchin]

Within the parameters of how your software can and cannot be set up, as Dimples says, if you want to raise more funds the probability is best to split them. Would someone be able to win both? Odds would be way against them. And of course you can't lie to someone.

Feelings (objective) vs Facts (subjective). As far as a set or split...

Do you care whether the winner would prefer a set or single? You cannot guess what someone else may or may not desire. The stated goal is to generate funds.

Do you care whether they are split? If you can't bear the thought of them being split or the chance the winner would want both, don't split.

Or the goal is just the most money generated for your charity? Probability is split, more tickets sold, more money generated.

Or within the parameters of your software, split and devise a rule for the subjective side of the equation to cover split vs non-split, e.g., first picked has the option of purchasing the second picture for X dollars; if they choose not to purchase, second draw for second picture.

Caveat 2: I worked security for our state lottery for years.